Fly-tying vise



United States Patent FLY-TYING VISE Herbert L. Thompson, Elgin, 11!. Application November 12, 1952, Serial No. 319,813 2 Claims. (Cl. 248-226) My invention relates to vises and similar devices.

My invention relates more particularly to vises of the type chiefly used for making artificial fishing flies and lures.

Fly-tying devices of the type which are at present on the market include a pedestal bench clamp, a standard, vertically adjustable in the clamp, and a vise attached to the top of the standard, the vise being usually angularly adjustable on the standard.

My invention relates to Vises of this more particularly it concerns the means for attaching the vise to a as the edge of a bench or table.

Ordinarily these Vises are attached by various means to the upper end of a vertical shaft or standard, and this standard in turn is held by some form of clamp to any rigid support. This clamp often consists of a horizontal member or jaw formed to rest upon the top surface of a supporting table while a somewhat similar integral member protrudes parallel with the first member under the table edge and carries a vertical screw located to co-act with the first jaw to force it into firm contact with the supporting table edge.

Obviously, such a clamp is limited to use on supports of a thickness that Will enter between the two horizontal members of the clamp, and the clamp screw must be long enough to reach from the lower member to the bottom of the thinnest support that will ever be encountered.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide an improved vise having a strong, sturdy adjustable clamp means capable of long, hard and continuous use without becoming broken or out of order.

A further object of the present invention is to provide in a fly-tying vise simple and inexpensive means for varying the distancebetween the two clamping members on the vise standard itself, and for causing them to lock firmly in predetermined positions on the standard so that even very thick supports may be placed between them, or they may approach each other very closely to accommodate very thin supports.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved vise wherein the jaws of the clamping member may be placed either near the top or the bottom of the standard to adjust the working height of the vise to suit the user.

Another object of the present invention is to provide co operating means on both the standard and the clamping member for fixedly holding the clamping member in a desired spaced relation to the vise and also to prevent rotation of the standard in the clamp.

A further object of the invention is to provide improved vise clamp means capable of desired adjustable positioning on the vise standard to compensate for supports of various thicknesses.

A further object is to provide a pair of movable clamp jaws for supporting a vise standard, said jaws being duplicates and capable of adjustable attachment to the vise standard.

general type, but provision of improved suitable support, such A further object of the invention is to provide in a flytying vise of the type described, improved clamp jaws easily and cheaply made from sheet metal stampings.

Other objects and advantages will be more apparent from the following description wherein reference is had to the accompanying drawings, upon which:

Fig. 1 is a front perspective view of one form of flytying vise embodying the features of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a similar cross-sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a side elevational view of a form of fiy-tying vise having a cylindrically shaped standard embodying the features of my invention; and

Fig. 5 is a plan sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive, I have shown a fly-tying vise which may include a vertical standard 10 having a bottom end '12 bent at right angles thereto to receive a clamping screw 14. The upper end of the standard may be formed with the vise jaws 16 and 18 that are separated or clamped together to hold a fish hook by means of a combined operating lever and cam 20 which is mounted upon a suitable pivot 22 near the top of the vise jaws.

The standard for this type of fiy-tying vise is preferably made of sheet metal formed to the V-shape shown and provided throughout its length with a plurality of pressedout projecting lugs 24 spaced at intervals throughout most of the length of the standard.

The means for fastening the vise to a support such as the edge of a bench or table may include a flat jaw member 26 which is provided with an opening 28 so that it may be slidably moved upon the standard 10. I also pierce and press up and forward a V-shaped tongue portion 30 to cooperate with the projections 24 in a manner which will be hereinafter described. The back end of the jaw 26 is preferably bent upwardly as shown at 32, and then forward to provide a pair of ear members 34 which are adapted to loosely engage the edges of the standard 10 to prevent partial rotation on a horizontal axis, cramping the edges of the opening 28 against the adjacent edges of the standard 10 while adjusting the clamp to a support.

The jaw 26 may be set at any desired projection 24 or between them, according to the thickness of the support to which the vise is to be attached, and by means of the clamping screw 14, the vise may be firmly attached to a support of any desired thickness. The forward end of the jaw 26 is tilted downwardly to permit the tongue 30 to clear a lug 24 whenever the jaw is being shifted past one of the lugs. The upward thrust of the thumb screw 14 acting through any supporting member effects a cramping effort between the end of the tongue 30 and the back of the opening 28, which due to the great leverage applied by the length of the clamp and the considerable pressure urging the clamp upward by the thrust of the clamp screw, generally suffices to cramp the clamp securely to the standard 10 by friction alone, but the projections 24 are provided as safety stops in case of some surface condition which allows the clamp to slip.

Fly-tyers Vises for beginners are usually inexpensive so they may be sold at a very low price. For this reason, the costly swivel pad used on most clamp screws is omitted, the bare end of the screw being generally considered sufficient. However, if the vise is secured to a soft support such as a Wooden table or the thin metal or other material of which card tables are made, the screw soon wears a depression in the material and requires constant retightening, which soon defaces the support without improving the solidity of the attachment of the vise.

To overcome this I provide a metalpad 36, provided with a stamped opening 38, which may be slidably mount ed on the standard 10. The pad'also has an opening 40 which permits it to be moved past the projections 24 on the standard. The jaw 26 and the metal pad 36, may of v course be mounted on the standard by being passed over the bottom of a support a larger distribution of the pres-.

sure, thus serving to protect the material of the support and providing a more effective fastening.

With the construction which I have described, a very etfective clamp means for fastening the standard to any support has been provided. It can be seen that the ability to adjust both. the metal pad and the jaw axiallyof the standard permits the movement of the same to accommodate a support of any thickness, within limits.

In the embodiment of the invention which i have shown in Figs. 4 and 5, I have shown a fly-tying vise which has a cylindrical standard 42 provided throughout its length with spaced grooves 44. The fly-tying' vise 46 may be mounted at the upper endof the standard by a suitable screw member 48 which fastens the body of the vise to the top of the standard and also permits angular adjustment of the same as desired.

, secure and protect by Letters Patent of the United 7 I provide a pair ofsirnilarly shaped clamping jaw mem- V hers 50, the lower jaw member being provided with a' clamping screw 52. Each of the jaws 50 is formed with a tongue member 54 adapted to engage in one of the V V grooves 44 or the surface of the standard 42', as the grooves in actual practice are so shallow that the angle of the clamp jaws 50 with the standard 42 is not altered enough to impair its function whether the tongue bears on the surface of 42 or at the bottom of one of the shallow grooves.

The jaws 56 are also provided with an upwardly turned portion at the back 56 which carries two substantially horizontal projections to form a fork loosely embracing the sides of the standard 42 to prevent accidental partial jaw having a tongue adapted to engage beneath a desired 1 rotation on a horizontal axis from cramping the edges of the opening in clamp against the standard 42 when being adjusted to clamping position on the support.

It is obvious that clamp screw 52 is capable of being forced against support 60, and through support against the upper clamp, causing a cramp between the end of the tongues 54 and the ends. of the openings in the clamps .56 that will not only lock the standard against vertical movement, but against rotation also. The increased width of the fork portion 58 is merely a' means to prevent the'fork from dropping into the ,grooves 44 while adjusting. In this construction the collars 58 serve the same purpose as the projections 24 and ears 34 of the other embodiment of the invention. The grooves 44 being preferably a screw length apart, they insure a support capacity equal to the distance between the upper aw and the top of the pad 7 While I have illustrated and described tWo embodiments a of the invention, it will be apparent to those skilled'in the art that changes and modifications may be made in its application. The vise standard'may of course be of any conceivable size or shape and the clamping jaws may be made to conform to the same. Therefore, I do not wish to be limited to these exact'details; rather what I desire to States is:

l. A standard fora vise, said standard being generally V-shaped in cross-section and including a clamping jaw vertically slidable thereon, projectionson the front side of said standard, said jaw having a tongue adapted to engage beneath a desired projection and a clamping screw mounted at the lower end of said standardto fasten the same to a support positioned between said jaw and the end of said clamping screw, said clamping jaw also having a pair of ears above the tongue adapted to loosely engage the edges of the standard to restrict rotation on a horizontal axis cramping. the jaw upon the standard when urged in one direction, said jaw being a sheet metal stamping pierced with an opening toembrace said standard.

at right angles thereto, a. clamp jaw having. an opening therethrough to slidably receive said standard,.a row of projections on the front side .of' said standard, said clamp projection, a flat pad member shdably mounted on said standard and a clamping screw mounted in thebottom end of said standard and adapted tofasten the standard to a support between the clamp jaw and said flat pad member, said clamp jaw having a pair of ears above the tongue adapted to loosely engage the edges of the standard to prevent partial rotation on .a horizontal axiscrampih'g 7 upon the standard when urged in'onedirection.

7 7 References Cited'in the fileof this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 268,616 Brown Dec. 5, 1882 373,362 a Hamilton '7 NOV. 15, 1887 943,255 Keene Dec. 14, 1909 1,160,103 Burkhart Nov.-9', 1915 1 ,236,269 Cole Au 7,1919 1,319,900 7 'Reeder Oct. 28, 1919. 2,190,328 Hans l Feb-13,1940 2,447,228 Boston Aug. 17, 1948 2,569,424 I Mayhew 'et al Sept. 25, 1951 2. A standard for a vise, said standard being. generally V-shaped in cross-section and having a bottom end turned 

